Dan O'Brien walked into the conference room filled with about 80 athletes, coaches, and USOC staff members on Saturday, February 21st and asked a simple question: "How many Olympic Gold Medalists we got in here?"  The crowd murmured to themselves and looked around to find the only one raising his hand was Dan himself.

"How many people want to win an Olympic gold medal in here?  You better raise your hand."

And with that, 1996 Olympic gold medalist and former world record holder in the decathlon, Dan O'Brien kicked off Psyched at One.  In his talk to resident athletes and coaches, O'Brien talked about his career as one of the greatest athletes to ever grace the world.  He mentioned the highs - winning three world championships in a row, shattering the world record in 1993, and achieving his goal of winning Olympic gold and being crowned as "The World's Greatest Athlete."  O'Brien addressed his lows: struggling through college, understanding what he wanted out of sport, and dealing with his failure to qualify for the 1992 Olympics.

But most importantly, Dan O'Brien articulated how his journey was ultimately successful; how he empowered himself to overcome obstacles to achieve his personal dream.

Here are some lessons Dan learned along his path to Olympic glory:

• Aspire for more !
  Don't be satisfied with being great and making the team.  Be the best.
  
• Know what you want in life and write it down!
  By deciding what you want, you can create clear goals for your life and sport.  Writing them down keeps your eye on the prize.
  
• Find inspiration!
  Look to other great athletes and coaches and seek out advice.  Find amazing quotes, movies, books, songs, events...whatever it is that gets you pumped up and feed off that energy to help you reach your performance goals. Use nervous energy and fear to help boost your motivation to be the best.
  
• Simplify your life! Make it as easy as possible!           
  Making an Olympic team and winning a medal is hard enough, so trim the fat & focus on things that get you closer to your goal.
  
• Win the Gold in your mind before you do it on the field of play!      
  You train to perform and succeed.  No one trains to fail.  You shouldn't be surprised when you go into a major competition and things go right and you do perform great.  Being an athlete is your job and what you live for.  When you trust your training, buy into the system, and commit to yourself and your goals, you ultimately prepare to win.
  
• Accountability is really the key!          
  Surround yourself with people who share the same vision and goals as you.  Your coaches, your friends, family, and the staff at the OTC should all be people who are around to help push you to reach your goals and not detract from them.